Cherry Popped with New Breakfast!

So I tried something new today; Irish Steel cut oats. I had heard of them one or twice on people's food blogs from people I actually really admire and lovely friend ,Vick and knew I had to try it. They look nothing like oatmeal as I know it, which are your basic rolled oats or the instant stuff you buy in packets at the grocery store.

To start with, steel cut oats are intimidating. They don't look like 'people' food to me and instead remind me of chicken feed- usually chopped and dried corn. Also with a 30 minute cooking time I was a little dubious, as you can expect. After all, who really wants to stand in front of the stove for 30+ minutes for breakfast.

Still, Vick insisted I should try them. After all, I had bought oatmeal recently and hadn't been too keen on it. The flavor was dull and I was using too much sugar and that wasn't what I was after. So I got the steel cut oats.

The cooking process was interesting. First I had to bring my water or milk to a boil, I used milk and was a little worried as I don't usually cook with milk and I was nervous about boiling it so it took a bit. Brought the milk to a boil and then measured out my oats, a measly 1/4 of a cup! I was slightly dubious but with the 1 and a half cups of milk- I was starting to see where this was going.

Milk and oats and raisins and some cinnamon and nutmeg with just two spoons of sugar. Then the wait and the stirring. At first it wasn't expanding and I was surprised but about fifteen minutes left on the counter the oats went through a change and by twelve they had consumed most of the milk.

They were thick and the consistency is a bit like oatmeal but in general I think they are better. The texture is a little more coarse, there's a lot more chewing involved. The taste is very sweet and nutty. I think I could get away with one spoon of sugar in my next batch. They are incredibly filling, even more so than 'normal' oatmeal. The little 1/4 cup of oats expanded to about a full cup of incredibly thick and rich and nutty sweet stuff. I think the raisins and the cinnamon and the pinch of the nutmeg was a really good idea and compliments the nuttiness.

Overall, the conclusion is that it's a bitch to make but tastes great. It's healthy and fibrous and delicious. Also, you can cook it in the microwave.